The results of a medical examination of the body of a Benedictine nun have confirmed that there were no signs of decomposition when her body was exhumed last year, according to a statement from the Kansas City-St Joseph Diocese in Missouri. Source: National Catholic Register.
The study, conducted by medical experts, and commissioned by Kansas City-St Joseph Bishop James Johnston, helps build the case that the body of the Sr Wilhelmina Lancaster could be incorrupt.
Sr Wilhelmina – who founded the traditionalist Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles order in Gower, Missouri – died on May 29, 2019. However, when her body was exhumed on April 28, 2023, to be moved for interment in the abbey church, the sisters did not find a skeleton.
Instead, they found a well-preserved body that maintained the recognisable features of their former prioress.
Thousands of pilgrims flocked to the rural town to see the potential miracle.
The final report on the examination, which the diocese announced on August 22, found a lack of any detected features of decomposition usually seen under the conditions of her interment.
Sr Wilhelmina’s body was not embalmed and did not receive any other treatments prior to her burial. She was buried in an unsealed wooden casket. Although the casket had deteriorated, her body was not decomposed and her habit and clothing showed no features of breakdown.
It further found that the conditions of her death and burial would not be expected to protect against decomposition.
“Within the limits of what has been observed during this time, the body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster does not appear to have experienced the decomposition that would have normally been expected under such previous burial conditions,” Bishop Johnston said in a statement when he announced the findings.
Bishop Johnston added that there is no official Catholic Church protocol for determining whether a body is incorrupt and noted that “incorruptibility is not considered to be an indication of sainthood.” At this time, he said, there are no plans in the diocese to initiate a cause for sainthood.
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Results of medical exam build case for ‘incorrupt’ body of Sr Wilhelmina, says bishop (National Catholic Register)
